Wistful words from a popular song suggest some important truths. The words are, "Would it spoil some vast eternal plan, if I were a wealthy man?"Lyrics of "If I Were A Rich Man," by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock, from the production fiddler on the roof, © 1964, Sunbeam Music, Inc., 1700 Broadway, New York, New York, 10019. Used by permission only. All rights reserved . According to Christian Science the answer is an emphatic No! First of all, men and women need only gain the right idea of wealth to realize they are already wealthy. And second, there is a vast eternal plan that nothing can ever spoil.
The world believes that wealth is in and of matter, has to be acquired, can prove elusive and fleeting, sufficient or insufficient, and often be unjustly distributed. Not a very satisfactory situation, really. And though Christian Science is definitely not a prosperity cult or a means of achieving more and better matter, it provides mankind with the true idea of substance and possession, and this true idea destroys belief in lack.
To appreciate the true idea of substance, it helps to understand the mythical nature of materiality. Christian Science exposes the unreality of matter and sets its students to work proving in their own experience that God, divine Spirit, is the eternal reality of being. In fact, since Christian Science was first introduced to the world through Mary Baker Eddy, thousands of people have proven, and are today proving, that all true being reflects the Divine. On the basis that divine Spirit, God, has the only real existence and is substance, they are proving that matter has no real existence, and is not substance. "The scientific statement of being," found in Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, makes this clear. It denies matter any life, truth, intelligence, or substance and states, "All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all." Science and Health, p. 468;
